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90

FFXIV: ARR

I think this game is simply beautiful to look at. Being able to play on the maximum settings is nothing less than astonishing in my mind. I never played the 1.0 release so I'm unable to comment on the visual improvements to the 2.0 version, but I really can't say enough about how great ARR looks.

My MMO background is fairly light, I've only played Final Fantasy 11 and World of Warcraft. I played FFXI pretty hardcore for about 9 years, and WoW more casually off and on up to Cataclysm. The game play of FFXIV compared to these two, and probably most MMOs, is about the same in terms of control, however, the streamlined controller hotbar support is very nice. I'm a keyboard and mouse person myself, but I had the urge to test it out and I wouldn't have had any trouble playing with the controller if I were the type of person to break out of my ways.

The game has received a number of content updates despite its still relatively new state. The game producer has a regularly scheduled Q&A in which he discusses future plans for the game, as well as concerns that have been brought up on the official forums. I think this is a great thing to do, as it is important for the developers to listen to their users in order to provide the best gaming experience possible.

90

Rising from the ashes

Graphics:
One of the best looking MMO's I've ever seen. Simply beautiful to look at. We are talking desktop wallpaper good. A good variety of locations and climates from frozen tundras to deserts to jungles. Different weather effects such as rain or fog as well as a day/night cycle really immerse you into Eorzea.

Sound:
Fantastic musical score that gives you that classic Final Fantasy feeling. All other in game sounds are good but won't blow you away.

Combat:
Traditional MMO combat here same as it's been since Everquest. Early game is fairly easy but around level 30 - 35 the difficulty really ramps up.

Story:
Classic good vs evil story, with some twists that keep things interesting.

Overall:
Final Fantasy A Realm Reborn doesn't reinvent the genre it combines a lot of things that you would see in WoW and GW2. But it does everything really, really well. Giving one of the most solid MMO experiences I've had in awhile. Weather you are a Final Fantasy fan, MMO fan or both this is a must buy. The developers deserve strong praise for what they were able to do with this title.

88

An MMO Reborn

The relaunch of this game sees many vast improvements over it's previous incarnation. The visuals and sounds invoke that classic Final Fantasy feeling and the classes and jobs are straight out of the lore people know and love. You choose from one of many different classes, from warriors, to magic users, to crafting, and then you depart into the world to level up solo or with friends as you make your way towards the end of Eorzea's corners.

While this game does little to break tradition or evolve the medium, it does everything previous MMOs have accomplished and does it well. There are many ways to level up and spend your time in Eorzea. You can queue in the dungeon finder, you can do random zone events which reward EXP and Gil, you can raise and fight along side your own trusty Chocobo, you can do leves which are short missives similar to quests, or you can go the traditional way and quest to your heart's content. One nice feature they implemented is the ability to change your job and class on a whim, so no more rolling alts to try out other classes; you can do it all on one character. To help compensate for any quests you might have already done on one class, all classes that are below your highest level recieve a 50% EXP boost to make the journey to level cap a bit easier the second time around.

Overall, while Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn does little to revolutionize the genre, it combines a lot of features the genre has created over the years and combines them into one game and delivers a great experience with that classic Final Fantasy feeling some people out there are sure to love.